The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1887-05-05
Bill Wye 'ssRailway Pass.
LINES ON RET uRNINei TILE BL AsTED DoCU
sIENTsTo THE GENIAL GIvER.
HUDSON, WIS, March so, 1887

HUDSON, WIS. lMdrcI 80. 1887.
"a ~. i. White. Esqs General Passenge
81 Agent Atchison, Topeka and Santa F,
r. R., Topeka Kansas.
DEAR Sin: / enclose herewith annual
pass No. G 035, for self and family, over
your justly celebrated road during the yeal
1887. Ialso return photograph ant
the letters yea have written me during the
past five years Ayill you kindly return
mfne? And 50 this brief andbeautifulex
perience is to end and each of US must &c
his own way hereafter.
! To.you-this may be easy, but il brings a
pang 10 my Heart which yonr gentle letter
Of the lst 'instaBtEcannot wholly alleviate.
WheneYershereafter you look upon this
tears peclglaapss will yeunot Think of ME
Rsnember that You have cast 1nefrom you
q and that am wandering across the bleak
ana II ifd-swept plains sadly essanierafiog
the ties on my way to eternity,
do not say this to reproach you, for I
fear that you care for another, and so we
could not be happy again together. But,
oh! do you pause to fally comprehend the
! pang it cost S me to return this pleasant
faced little pass with its conditions on the
back Could you see me even now, as
write these lines. turning away overland
anon. laying aside my trembling pen to go
and sit BY the CRATE and shadder and weep
ard put out the fire with my bitter tears,
Z g8nr heart would soften and you would say:
Return, o waBderer return
You donot sayin your letter that have
| beer false to you or that l have ever grown
cold Yon do not ehargeme with infidelity
or failure toprovide. You simply say that
it would be better for each to go his several
ways, forgetting that my several ways are
/ passing away, passing away.
It is all well enough for you to talk about
| going your several ways. You have every
/ facility for doing SO, but with me it is diff
ferent. Several years ago large North
Western cyclone and myself tried to pass
each other on the same track. When the
wIeeking crew found me l was in the
crotch Of butternut tree, with a broken
leg Since that time | have walked with
great difficulty, and to go my several ways
has been q very serious matter with me.
4 But do not want you to think | am muir
nuring. / accept my doom calmly, yet
with aslight tinge Of unayailing regret.
Sometime, perhaps, in the middle of the
dark and angry night, when the cold blasts
wall through the telegraph wires and the
crashing sleet rushes with wild and i'm
Ipetuous fury against the windows Of your
special car, as you lie warmly ensconced in
kyour yoluptuous BERTRAND hear the pitiless
winds with hoarse and croupy means chase
each other around the Kansas baystacks.
or shrek wildly away as they light out for
| their cherries homes in the Bad Lands,
will you not think Of me as / grope on
| blindty through the keen and pitilesS blasts,
stumbling oyer cattle guards, falling into
eulverts, and beating out my rare. young
brains against your rough right of way. viii
81 Oh not think Of faes do rot ask much
ever.
| AS you Whiz by me do not treat me with
contumely, or throw crackers at me, when |
have meekly turned out to let your naughty
old train go by. [ have always spoken OF
you in the highest terms, and hope you
will do the same by me.
Life is short al the best, and it is espe-
cially so for those who hare to walk. Walk
| ing has already shortened my life great
deal, and wouldn be surprised if the ex
posture and bunions of the. year 1887 car
ried me off leaving gap in American lite
nature that viii look like a new cellar.
| Should any Of your engineers or track
men find ne in q cut next winter, when
/ the grass gets short ard the nights get
long, viii you kindly ask them to report
the brand to your auditor and Instruction.
to allow my family what he thinks right 7
hate to write you in this detected man
ner. but you cannot understand how heavy
my heart is to-day as [ pen these lines.
I wish you and your beautiful road IN.
miiigated success. 1t is a good road, for
I have passed over it. and enjoyed it. How.
a fTerent the country viii lock 10 me as
gabounding from lie to tie. slowly repeat |
nlg to myself the trite remark once made by
the Governor Of North CaFliua TO the Ex-
ecutiye Of South Carolina.
/ hope you may never know what it is 10
pull into the quaint little city Of La Jpnta
with the duss Of many q mile upon you
and thirst OF a long, uheventfnl journey
in your throat. | hope hat Congress- will
moi pass q law next year which will make
it a felony FOR a railroad ,oan tosay gosh
without permit. / hope that your life
willhe chuck fulIof hurrah aud hal'elujah |
eyeuif mine should always be bleak and
hopeless.
CanI do your road any good, either at
home Oh. abroad ? Can be OF service to
you over your right Of way by collecting |
nuts, bolts, old iron or other brio a brac ?
I would be glad to influence immigration
or pull weeds between the track il you
would be willing to regard ME as an en-
ployee.
will now take the last look at the fair.
young features Of your pass before finally
sealing this letter. How sad to see an an
lual pass cut down il life's young morn
ing, ere one fourth Of its race has been
runl How touchful to part from it for
ever!
What a sad year this has been SO far
Earthquakes. fires, storms, railway disas-
tiers aud death in every form have visited
our country, ard now, like the biting
blasts from Siberia, or tie nipping frosts
from Manitoba. comes the Congressional
cut-worm; cutting off the early crop of
towering anpuals just as they had budded
to bloom into beauty and usefulness!
i will now close this sad letter to go over
into the vacant lot, behind the high board
fence, where ! can sob in an unfettered
way without shaking the glass out Of my
| easement.
Yours, with a crockfnl of unshed tears
on hand Bill Nye IN Nee YorA; World
The Verdict Unan;me US.
! w. D. Suit, Druggist, Bippus, Ind, tes-
| titles s'f can recommend Electric 3ilteys
as the very best remedy. Every bottle stld